The winners and the losers

Independent Fed Ex contractors Allen Fratto, left, and Carl Christensen describe Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012 how they helped to stop a thief after he had stolen a purse from Carla Miner and tried to run away.

Winner: Mitt Romney's official nomination as the Republican presidential candidate this week signals that yet another barrier has been removed from serving in the nation's ultimate political post. Parents have long told their children that, with hard work and dedication, they could grow up to become president. For too many years, however, this was true only for children of a certain skin color, religious persuasion and gender. John F. Kennedy opened the door a bit further to include Catholics. Barack Obama opened it for people of color. Now Romney is the first serious candidate who also is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which owns this newspaper). The nation still awaits its first serious female candidate, but that is just a matter of time, and two already have served as running mates. A representative government should be equally open to leadership from all its people, without regard to race, creed or gender. The United States appears to be turning into just such a place, which is a good thing.

Loser: Early estimates are that less than 10 percent of the viewing audience of this week's Republican Convention were under 35 years old. A Pew Research Center poll found that less than 30 percent of twenty-somethings were interested in either political convention. What also is disturbing is that only 41 percent of Democrats were interested in watching the Republicans, and a scant 28 percent of Republicans say they will tune into the Democratic Convention next week. Young people may be following the conventions through social media or in other unconventional ways, but the nation's reluctance to hear what the other side has to say does not bode well for politicians being able to find compromise solutions to problems.

Winner: The city of Logan came in third place on a list of best college towns in America, as compiled by the website livability.com. The list was published this week. Logan finished just behind Oxford, Miss., and College Station, Texas. Among other things, Logan offers the lowest cost of living of any town on the list, and it has a music, theater and arts community that offers something for local residents almost every night. In addition, the Cache Valley Transit District offers free bus service to everyone, helping keep transportation costs low.

Winner: Two FedEx workers were on time and in the right place in Salt Lake City this week when they heard a woman yell, "Stop him!" in the direction of a fleeing purse thief. The man with the purse pointed the barrel of a weapon at one of the FedEx workers, who alertly realized it was just a BB gun. Both workers tackled the man and returned the purse to its rightful owner. The suspect, it turns out, was wanted for failing to show up in court for sentencing on an earlier conviction. Some people, it seems, are slow learners.